What is Halal Dasta, Pakistan’s new sinister squad to attack India?

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has embarked on a new strategy to take on Indian soldiers,

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa with a team of his officials. (Representational image/ Twitter)

Jolted by India’s continuing successes in eliminating terror infiltrators from across the border, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has embarked on a new strategy to take on Indian soldiers, according to a report. Intelligence sources told India Today that the ISI has now formed a new terror group named as ‘Halal Dasta’ to target India.

The Halal Dasta comprises of members from other terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba. It has been created to launch attacks on Indians like Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT). According to India Today, Indian intelligence agencies believe that the Halal Dasta appears to be a new design of Pakistan along the LoC to inflict casualties on Indian border security forces and gain some ground along the LoC.

The report says the ISI has apparently identified Suran Kot and Poonch as prime areas to target. Intelligence reports revealed that Pakistan had recently held a meeting with terrorists like Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Syed Salahuddin and representatives from Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT. The meeting was held at Kotli in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. According to the India Today report, the ISI has directed the Halal Dasta to attack Indian soldiers, including “Road Opening Party, isolated posts and army bridges.”

Indian agencies have noticed an increase in movement of terrorists in recent months.

Meanwhile, Pakistan army’s BAT continues to operate in the border region. BAT is specifically used by Pakistan for cross-border operations. “In Pakistan, the SSG (special services group) forms the core of BAT. Its primary task is to dominate the LoC by carrying out disruptive actions in the form of surreptitious raids.”

According to an earlier report by AAJ Tak, BAT members include commandos of Pakistani Army and terrorists. They are experts in guerrilla tactics and work along with Pakistan’s special service group. Pakistan also includes terrorists in BAT so that it can disown them when caught. The report says that BAT is trained for eight months by Pakistani Army and for four-week by Pakistan’s Air Force.